Comes the moment to decide

This morning I was torn between quoting a children's book, Johnny Tremain or a poem, which is known by many as a hymn, or baseball great Jackie Robinson's autobiography which also came to mind. They all seem significant to me, especially this morning.

It is Election Day in the United States and if it seems to be a bigger deal this year, it actually is. If more people had been involved - if more folks had stood up, things would not be so critical. It's not a new problem at all.  The hate and discrimination and lack of respect has been building for quite some time.

First, Jackie Robinson: "There I was, the black grandson of a slave, the son of a black sharecropper, part of a historic occasion, a symbolic hero to my people. The air was sparkling. The sunlight was warm. The band struck up the national anthem. The flag billowed in the wind. It should have been a glorious moment for me as the stirring words of the national anthem poured from the stands. Perhaps, it was, but then again, perhaps, the anthem could be called the theme song for a drama called The Noble Experiment. Today, as I look back on that opening game of my first world series, I must tell you that it was Mr. Rickey’s drama and that I was only a principal actor. As I write this twenty years later, I cannot stand and sing the anthem. I cannot salute the flag; I know that I am a black man in a white world. In 1972, in 1947, at my birth in 1919, I know that I never had it made."

Think about those words. I can't help think of Robinson's autobiography every time I see all the positive thing done by Colin Kaepernick (who celebrates his birthday today). When will we actually pay attention? When will we change. I thought about how things were way back in grade school when I first read the historical fiction novel, Johnny Tremain, by Esther Forbes. Young Johnny keeps reminding himself of the phrase, "So that a man can stand up." In fact it becomes his personal war cry, and he repeats it to himself several times in the book. That phrase has stayed with me. I suppose it might be my own battle cry.

We are at a moment of decision dear readers. Let us choose wisely. "Once to ev'ry man and nation Comes the moment to decide, In the strife of truth and falsehood, For the good or evil side." If you recognize those words, they come from the beginning of a familiar hymn. (Sing it to yourself. I put the music above). The words are from a larger work of poetry entitled “The Present Crisis,” written in 1845 by James Russell Lowell, as a protest against the US war with Mexico. Like Robinson's story and Tremain's battle cry, these words too can inspire us and move us forward.

Yes, today is Election Day. Today is our moment to decide so that a man can stand up - so that we all can stand up.